According to Hebrews 11:5, did Enoch actually die? (Compare Hebrews 11:13)

Question

According to the Book of Hebrews, did Enoch actually die? How is this "contradiction" resolved?

Excerpted from this answer, https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/a/27939/6338

By faith Enoch was translated that he - should - not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God...

...These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Hebrews 11:5 & 13

Answer 1

Is it not the case that the writer, having clearly stated that Enoch did not see death, then excludes Enoch from the statement, "These all died," ?

It is unnecessary for the writer to break into the second statement and add "except for Enoch" as the writer has already excluded that singular circumstance by previously defining it separately.

Answer 2

This question has not an answer plainly in scripture and without answering suggest a place to look. There were two that seemingly went to heaven before dying and they were Enoch in Genesis 5:24 and Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11.

We see in John 17:10-13 and Jesus said Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things 12 But I say unto you, that Elijah is come already and they new him not, but have done unto him whatever they listed.

Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. We see in John 21:21-22 where Peter seemed he was to do more than john and Jesus said If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee follow thou me. In Revelations 10:8-11 when John was handed the little book and told to eat it.

The 11th verse the angel told him Thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. I may be wrong but I do not believe that has happened. If I may suggest as Elijah's spirit was in John the Baptist maybe Enoch's spirit may be one of the two witnesses along with John.in Revelations 11

I hope this is not to far out there and I understand if this is rejected, but these questions may not be able to be answered with references. But all will die from the first Adam. Luke 2:26 KJV And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not ἰδεῖν θάνατον horaó thanatos (see death) before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Heb.11:5 KJV By faith Enoch was translated that he should not ἰδεῖν θάνατον horaó thanatos (see death)….

Here is one in John 8:51 is same word for death but he shall never see θεωρήσῃ theóreó more of an I behold, look at, experience.

Also in Ps. 89:48KJV What man is he that liveth , and shall not see death וְלֹ֣א wə-lō (no) יִרְאֶה־ yir-’eh- (see) מָּ֑וֶת mā-weṯ; (death) I believe that Simeon in Luke is the match the Holy Ghost told him he would not die before he saw Jesus same wording as in Hebrews. I ‘m pretty sure that not see death is not to die. I don’t feel it is a contradiction just something’s harder to grab hold of. Enoch was taken up. Where?

Answer 3

(Note: I can’t give you what’s in the Book of Hebrews, so I'll just present this).

In Genesis 5, Enoch is the only father in the list of generations who doesn’t have wording such as “then he died” shown. However, there are a couple of other things, in that chapter and elsewhere in Genesis, that lead me to believe he never died.

Gen 5:21-24 (NAB) When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 Enoch lived three hundred years after the birth of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 The whole lifetime of Enoch was three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Then Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer here, for God took him.

Enoch spent a lifetime of 365 years on earth. Then he “walked with God… for God took him.”

In Genesis, there are only two people who “walked with God”. Those are the two who had their lives saved. Enoch “walked with God” just before God assumed him into heaven. Noah was the only other person in Genesis who “walked with God”

Gen 6:9-10 (NAB) These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. 10 Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Like Enoch, Noah’s life was saved; unlike Enoch though, God didn’t assume Noah into heaven and save his life permanently. Instead, God saved Noah’s life temporarily; Noah “walked with God” just before he was allowed to survive the flood. Yes, family members were allowed to survive the flood too, but that was because someone was needed to people the earth.

Answer 4

ENOCH DID NOT GO TO HEAVEN,

Jesus was in heaven when Enoch died and he would have known if he went to heaven. In view of Jesus clear statement at Jonn 3:13,

*"No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man."(NASB)

• Enoch certainly was not taken to heaven. God disposed of Enoch's body like He did for Moses for "he was nowhere to be found." (Deuteronomy 34:5,6 )

Enoch is one of the righteous servants of God mentioned by Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews ( chapter 11:5,13) and who are still awaiting the promise of resurrection. (John 5:28,29; Hebrews 11:26, 39,40)

Answer 5

Enoch, like Melchizedek appears briefly in Genesis and then does not reappear in the Protestant canon until "To the Hebrews". While less is said in Hebrews about Enoch than about Melchizedek much is written of Enoch in extra-biblical writings.

However, "the scrolls of Enoch" was an early apocalypse that was popular with Jews and Christians alike but not included in the Catholic or Protestant canons. It was quoted by NT writers and seems to have influenced many NT passages.

I'm too lazy to give an exhaustive report on the place of Enoch in this answer but I will point out that he was clearly understood to not have died and to have been transported directly into the sky, to where God and the angels are. In addition he is taken on a tour of the place of the dead and the prison of angels.

He also appears to be equated with Philo's logos and the messenger that accompanied Moses on the Exodus.

For further reading please consult:

http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5772-enoch

http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10736-metatron

http://biblehub.com/library/deane/pseudepigrapha/the_book_of_jubilees.htm

The one thing I do want to call attention to that is particularly relevant to the question at hand is Peter's cryptic reference to Enoch's preaching to the angels in prison in which he seems to be identifying Christ with Enoch!:

NIV 1 Peter 3: 18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,

This is a clear reference to the scrolls of Enoch:

[Chapter 15] 1 And He answered and said to me, and I heard His voice: 'Fear not, Enoch, thou righteous 2 man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither and hear my voice. And go, say to the Watchers of heaven, who have sent thee to intercede for them: "You should intercede" for men, and not men 3 for you: Wherefore have ye left the high, holy, and eternal heaven, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children 4 of earth, and begotten giants (as your) sons? And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten (children) with the blood of flesh, and, as the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also do who die 5 and perish. Therefore have I given them wives also that they might impregnate them, and beget 6 children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on earth. But you were formerly 7 spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling. 8 And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon 9 the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; 10 they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.] And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless 12 hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them.

[Chapter 16] 1 From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgement -thus shall they destroy until the day of the consummation, the great judgement in which the age shall be 2 consummated, over the Watchers and the godless, yea, shall be wholly consummated." And now as to the watchers who have sent thee to intercede for them, who had been aforetime in heaven, (say 3 to them): "You have been in heaven, but all the mysteries had not yet been revealed to you, and you knew worthless ones, and these in the hardness of your hearts you have made known to the women, and through these mysteries women and men work much evil on earth." 4 Say to them therefore: " You have no peace."'

[Chapter 21] ...Then I said: 'How 9 fearful is the place and how terrible to look upon!' Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: 'Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright?' And 10 I answered: 'Because of this fearful place, and because of the spectacle of the pain.' And he said unto me: 'This place is the prison of the angels, and here they will be imprisoned for ever.''

So I see every reason to believe that Hebrews, as well as Peter to have understood Enoch to have been transported to "heaven" and "descended into hell" and preached to the angels in Tartarus, the prison of angels, in the days of Noah.

Answer 6

Hebrews 11:5 does not actually say Enoch did not die. It says that he did not see death. I interpret this to mean Enoch never saw anyone die.

Here is a graph showing the lifespans of early mankind.

Enoch was "taken up" when he was 365 years old. He was only 57 when Adam died at age 930. By this time, mankind had been spreading out through the land, and at the young age of 57, who knows what Enoch was doing when Adam died; or even how long it would have taken someone to deliver the news to him.

Seth wouldn't die for another 55 years after Enoch was taken, and since he was taken a few years before Noah was born, he was probably dead before the flood. Noah was 600 when the flood began, so Enoch would have been 1034, which was a very decent lifespan at this time. Enoch could have died a few years before the flood, and would still have outlived Adam's age.

Answer 7

Peace.

Enoch did not die but was “translated”…that is, “transferred or transported”…to Heaven by God because God took him.

Enoch did not experience death and carries this testimony in the written Word for us today: that he pleased God (he did walk with God). We must also walk in the Spirit and put to death the deeds of the body so that we may please God.

Hebrews 11:5 KJV (5) By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

The rest in the list of the heroes of faith did die in faith (they are the “dead in Christ”).

Hebrews 11:13 KJV (13) These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

The rest who died in faith did not receive the “promises”…..the promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ and the promises made to Abraham. This is the “promise” that He has promise us: eternal life.

1 John 2:25-26 KJV (25) And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. (26) These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

They did not receive the "promise"….the promise of eternal life… but saw it from afar as they expected (in faith) it in the coming of the Son to this earth… Jesus Christ. The Son came into this world so that this world might have life. Yet, they died and had not received the promise of eternal life in this earth.

Hebrews 11:39-40 KJV (39) And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

Their testimonies in the Scriptures are to be interpreted by Christ (as opposed to the private interpretation of men who wrest the Scriptures) so that they without us should not be made complete.

We hear their voices ( as a roar of many “waters”) in the voice of the Lord who speaks their testimonies in the heavenly (from Heaven) interpretation of the Scriptures.

We are made complete by hearing and believing in the voice of the Son of God who comes to give us an understanding. Those who believe in Him shall not perish from this earth (in mortal death) but have an everlasting life (the eternal life of Jesus that He is experiencing now). We must raise Him and His testimony above all that are of the earth. His heavenly testimony is above all of what men are preaching in the many churches.

(40) God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Enoch was the exception in that list of those who died in faith and shows us today what “eternal life” is….a life that pleases God so that we are also to be “translated” to Heaven without seeing death…just like Enoch.

Jesus already physically died for our sins so that we may not die but have His eternal life now in this earth.

In Genesis 3:22, we are told that the Tree of Life (Jesus) is the source of eternal life.

To live “forever” (Hebrew : “olam”) is to live to the “ concealed…the vanishing point”…..just like Enoch who “vanished” from this earth for he was not. Enoch was “not found” as he was transferred to Heaven without seeing death.

Genesis 3:22 KJV (22) And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Enoch “was not” as he lived to the “vanishing point” (he was not found) as God took him….transferring him to Heaven without seeing death. This is the kind of way we want to go from this earth.

Genesis 5:23-24 KJV (23*) And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: (24) And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.*

Jesus already died for us at the cross….and so we are to participate in His death by dying to sin so that we might have His life now in this earth.

We keep His “daily” sacrifice always in our mortal bodies so that His eternal life is made manifest (shines) outward in our mortal flesh. He gives His flesh for the life of the world….this world. We must also "walk with God"...through His Spirit that dwells in us.

Romans 8:11-14 KJV (11) But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

The other way to Heaven is to physically die (to suffer loss) and it is never pleasant. Why wish for the Day of the Lord’s wrath in which we are destroyed from this earth as the heavens come to get each of us with a “whirring” sound (2 Peter 3:10) ….with the sound of a whirlwind?

The wages of sin is death….death to the mortal body and then the spirit goes back to God who gave it. We must put to death (through the Spirit of God) the deeds of the body so that we may receive the promise of eternal life....the life of Jesus.

(12) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. (13) For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

We must walk with God…walking in His Spirit…being led by His Spirit...so that we may please Him thoroughly and some day be translated ("death" is ours) just as Enoch was.

(14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

But some may scoff and say where is the "promise" of His coming.....where is His promised eternal life in this earth?

Answer 8

Bible neither claims that Enoch "lived" nor that he left the earth. It clearly and pointedly states exactly the opposite on both those counts :

ALL these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles ON THE EARTH.

Hebrews 11:13 NASB
referring to Enoch in verse 5

'... and Enoch walked (וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֨ךְ) with god ...' Genesis 5:22

'... and Enoch walked (וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ) with god ...' Genesis 5:24

Elohim had walked or 'fellowshipped' with Adam and Eve in the garden :

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking (מִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ) in the garden in the cool of the day ...

Genesis 3:8 NIV

Direct interaction between elohim and the faithful, and the wicked, was a feature after the ejection from Eden :

After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:24 NIV

Then the Lord said to Cain ...

Then the Lord said to Cain ...

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence ..."

Genesis 4:6,9,13-14 NIV

However this fellowship, or judgement, was withdrawn before the flood :

Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with (or judge - יָד֨וֹן - as with Cain) humans forever, for they are mortal (בָשָׂ֑ר - corrupt); their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

Genesis 6:3 NIV

The tree of life being lost to us in this flood, the cherubim no longer being required.
Concomitantly, elohim became infrequent visitors.

'Enoch was translated ...' Hebrews 11:5

'... was not found because God had translated him ...' Hebrews 11:5

'... before the translation ...' Hebrews 11:5

Translation in this case - μεταθέσεως - indicates a geographical move. Same word in Acts 7:16 referencing the movement of human remains from Egypt to Shechem.

Moreover, the span of Enoch's life is clearly stated.

And Enoch lived 65 years - and begat Methusaleh ...

... and Enoch walked (there's that word 'fellowshipped') with God after he begat Methusaleh, three hundred years - and begat sons and daughters ...

... and ALL the days of Enoch were, three hundred and sixty-five years ...

Genesis 5:21,22,23 Rotherham

After Enoch had produced the next heir in the line of Seth when he was 65 years old, his participation in that process no longer being necessary, he was 'translated' or moved away from that environment, to a location not specified, where from that point on, he walked or 'fellowshipped' with elohim as Adam and Eve had, and so lived out the remainder of his days, being another 300 years, in which time he had further sons and daughters.

I don't even know how anyone could even accidentally miss all those "words" ...

Why?

Witness protection elohim style.

Lines of Cain and Seth.

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain ... Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them ... and of all the defiant words ... they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Jude 1:11,14,15,16 NIV

Enoch, seventh from Adam via Seth - Genesis 5
Lamech, seventh from Adam via Cain - Genesis 4:16-18

'... all the defiant words ... they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage ...' :

Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed (הָרַ֙גְתִּי֙) a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”

Genesis 4:23,24 NIV

The AKJV has a marginal reference for "have killed" being "would kill".
From elsewhere :

I would certainly have killed (הָרַ֖גְתִּי) you by now ...

Numbers 22:33 NIV

These are defiant words and nothing else.

It's Genesis 3:15 playing out. There being a distinct separation of those that obeyed elohim - styled the sons or children of god, and those that followed the way of Cain.
That distinct division being punctuated by violence and ultimately broken in Genesis 6 (verses 1 through 8) with regard to intermarriage. Hence god's disappointment and final judgement.
This entropy further increasing in the threefold division after the flood in the descendents of Noah and the scattering at the tower.

ALL these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles ON THE EARTH.

Hebrews 11:13 NASB
referring to Enoch in verse 5

Died in faith when he turned up his feet, and not by the hand of Lamech 300 years earlier in spite of his boast.
Moved, out of harms way, away from the grasp of a man who would recompense the wounding he inherited from Cain, on the line of Seth.

Enoch was translated, so as not to see death, and was not found, because that, God, had translated him ...

Hebrews 11:5 Rotherham

Was not found by Lamech and therefore did not see death by the hand of Lamech at that time.

I have to assume the scapegoat for this oversight is the repetition of the distinctive feature of Enoch's life provided as summary.

... and Enoch walked with God,––and was not, for God had taken him.

Genesis 5:24 Rotherham

The casual reader perhaps concluding that at the end of Enoch's life he walked with god.
However, this is clearly a revisiting of earlier events :

And Enoch lived 65 years - and begat Methusaleh ...

... and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methusaleh, three hundred years - and begat sons and daughters ...

... and all the days of Enoch were, three hundred and sixty-five years ...

Genesis 5:21,22,23 Rotherham

A plain, unambiguous record of the pertinent features of his life and then a declaration of death.

This distinctive feature of his life provided in summary not only in Genesis but also in Hebrews. In both cases the summary or refrain belonging to the events immediately following his fathering Methusaleh.
Indicated by :

'... and Enoch walked with God, after he begat Methuselah, three hundred years,––and begat sons and daughters ...' Genesis 5:22

'... and Enoch walked with God,––and was not, for God had taken him.' Genesis 5:24

This verse 24 being a summary.
To suggest otherwise is to suggest that Enoch was translated twice.

Genesis and Hebrews agree in these matters.

And Enoch lived, sixty–five years,––and begat Methuselah ...

... for, before the translation, he had received witness that he had become well–pleasing unto (or rendered service to - εὐαρεστηκέναι) God ...

Genesis 5:21, Hebrews 11:5 Rotherham

... and Enoch walked with God, after he begat Methuselah, three hundred years,––and begat sons and daughters ...

Enoch was translated, so as not to see death (at that time), and was not found (by Lamech who consequently, was unable to make good on his threat), because that, God, had translated him ...

... and Enoch walked with God,––and was not, for God had taken him.

Genesis 5:22, Hebrews 11:5, Genesis 5:24 Rotherham
verse 24 being a re-statement of verse 22 as the defining feature of his life

... and all the days of Enoch were, three hundred and sixty–five years ...

... all these died––not bearing away the promises, but, from afar, beholding and saluting them, and confessing that, strangers and sojourners, were they upon the land (or earth - γῆς) .

Genesis 5:23, Hebrews 11:13 Rotherham

... sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned ...

... death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses ...

Romans 5:12,14 NIV

This Enoch stuff is a nonsense. Always has been and always will be.

Answer 9

The theme of this chapter is faith and how the humanly impossible was achieved by it. We all seem to be missing the obvious assumption of the writer of Hebrews. He is writing from the point of view that no one goes to heaven right after they die because if they did, then Enoch's achievement of not seeing death because of his strong faith is simply not that significant.

It is because all must see death, as spelled out in Genesis 3, that these who die in faith are so amazing. Faith enabled them to go to the grave in peace (to see death) because they saw afar off the promises of a resurrection from the finality of death and a life that never ends.

These have died in faith and they rest in the peace of faith until the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven and calls them forth from the grave. Then their faith will become sight as they see the promises (that were once far off) now being fulfilled.

In light of this we now have cause for marvel at what Hebrews tells us about Enoch (and by implication Elijah) who by faith did not see death but ascended to heaven directly as will those who are alive when Christ returns the second time.

Now the picture is clear. Enoch did not actually die, since he is contrasted with those who did. The bottom line for us is that faith is the only way to finally get around death. Whether we see death or not, the delay between the two does not matter, what matters is faith.